Potrero Stage: theater hub for a changing neighborhood

Associate Director Annie Stuart waits in the box office before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project.

Associate Director Annie Stuart waits in the box office before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

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Production assistant Melanie Marshall with associate producer Annie Stuart in the box office before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage.

Production assistant Melanie Marshall with associate producer Annie Stuart in the box office before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann, speaks with Annie Stuart, Associate Director in the box office before a performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017. less

Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann, speaks with Annie Stuart, Associate Director in the box office before a performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, ... more

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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A patron walks past the box office before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

A patron walks past the box office before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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Patrons arrive before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

Patrons arrive before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann (left) and John Wong, president of Art Space Development Corp.

Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann (left) and John Wong, president of Art Space Development Corp.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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L-R, Melanie Marshall, Jim Kleinmann, and John Wong, chat onstage before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

L-R, Melanie Marshall, Jim Kleinmann, and John Wong, chat onstage before a preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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JD Scalzo makes his way to his character's stage entrance in "Los Californios," a part of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

JD Scalzo makes his way to his character's stage entrance in "Los Californios," a part of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann speaks to the audience before the first preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann speaks to the audience before the first preview performance of the Potrero Nuevo Project at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, February 2, 2017.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

Potrero Stage: theater hub for a changing neighborhood

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“Fair warning,” advised the subject line of an email from Crowded Fire Theater in September 2016, on the hot day its production of “The Shipment” opened. “The Thick House can get toasty warm even on a mild day.” The message suggested that “folks wear light layers in order to be as comfortable as possible.”

When PlayGround took over as main tenant of the Potrero Hill venue in October 2015, Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann knew a renovation was in order before the space reopened as the Potrero Stage. At the top of the list was installing an HVAC system to prevent more sweltering opening nights.

The $250,000 renovation, which PlayGround completed in just over two months, right before previews of the Potrero Nuevo Project, also includes new seats and a higher seating capacity, from 77 to 99; a reconfigured box office that frees more room in the lobby; new LED lights; and a fresh coat of paint, including a new Potrero Stage logo designed by Rich Black, who does Shotgun Players’ renowned murals and posters.

Giving a tour of the venue during the renovation, Kleinmann says “facilities insecurity” was “one of the single biggest issues” the company faced. “We didn’t know where our next show was going to be,” he says; one production, the company’s 20th annual festival of new works, even had to get bumped back because available space was scarce.

More by Lily Janiak

That’s a common problem for small theater companies, and PlayGround is teaming up with two other small resident companies to book the venue for the majority of the year: Crowded Fire and Golden Thread Productions, whose offices are attached to the theater. “If it were just PlayGround, we’re not designed to fill up a space,” Kleinmann says.

That’s one reason the venue’s new full name is the Potrero Stage: The PlayGround Center for New Plays. Kleinmann envisions the theater as a hub for “the best new plays being done by all these different companies.”